


First Time For Everything

by Steerpike13713, Zappy



Series: Crimson Spade [10]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, The Flash (TV 2014), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, hints of coldwestallen, my Harrison Wells is a bit different, sorta a mix of verses since Crimson Spade is it's own Earth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 07:52:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steerpike13713/pseuds/Steerpike13713, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zappy/pseuds/Zappy
Summary: The first times Team Flash met the man known as Hood, and how it shaped a bit of their future. It starts before their beginning, and lasts long into their future.





	First Time For Everything

**Author's Note:**

> Parts 1 & 2 are before the start of Flash (year 2 of Crimson Spade), 3 is early in the first season of Flash, 4 is during year 4 for Crimson Spade, and 5 is during year 6

1 - Dr Caitlin Snow

Mornings working at STAR Labs, something she still pinched herself over, weren’t exactly  _ normal _ , but after a while you got used to the insane amounts of genius at work, paving the way for the science of the future, and the accompanying insanely large egos. For the longest time it had seemed the only ones who didn’t trip over theirs were Dr Morgan-Wells, her daughter Jesse who had liked to drop by and say hi, and of course...Ronnie.

Caitlin still wasn’t used to not having Dr Morgan there, to knowing Jesse wouldn’t dash by. She even missed Rathaway being his usual abrasive self, because he was always softer around the people who’d taken him in. Some mornings she looked at Dr Wells and didn’t recognize the person who had been married to the woman who hired her. Grief must’ve done that. It chemically changed a person, and she never wanted to know just how much.

Regardless of what her new definition of normal was, it certainly wasn’t logging into her company email and seeing a message marked urgent by  _ Wayne Chemicals _ . Wayne Enterprises was one of the biggest players in...well, everything. But they didn’t tend to have dealings in Central, as Queen Consolidated had gotten there first most of the time. And they certainly had more than enough specialists of their own.

What someone from one of the most prestigious companies on the planet wanted with  _ her  _ was a complete mystery. It only got more confusing the more she read the email. It had the right address and signature but the actual body of the email was...incredibly informal. Probably someone new, in over their head. Caitlin didn’t think they hired people like that. Or at least didn’t let them out to mingle before they’d picked up a bit of polish.

The request wasn’t simple, but it was within her capabilities while still doing her assigned work at STAR. So after she ran it by Dr Wells, and that took a while to get the courage to approach his office when before those offices were always an open door to the circle of employees Caitlin was proud to be part of, she completed the work and replied to ‘Dr Jacob Hood, but call me Jack’.

Ronnie teased her about only referring to the man as Dr Hood, regardless of what the email asked. She told him she was being professional. Then she firmly put the odd correspondence out of her mind, sure it’d never come up again. 

Until it did, a week later. It just flowed, and the more Caitlin traded messages the more she found the newbie, as he readily admitted when she vaguely brought it up a month in, charming in a silly way. Like Cisco. As time went on, using their company emails just became too much work, and so they traded numbers and began texting instead. Dr Hood, because she still couldn’t quite call him Jack, was fascinating to talk to though sometimes hard to keep up with all his rambling. She often wondered how he had enough focus to get a doctorate.

It was refreshing, talking to him, especially after how tense the labs had gotten. He was completely outside the sphere of grief and misery, but still close enough to understand the passions that sphere shared. She’d never been one to have online friends, be close to anyone she didn’t see on a near daily basis, but even without ever seeing his face, Caitlin began to think of him as a good friend. 

One thing could be said about the man, he was dependable even during the worst of calamities.

* * *

2 - Cisco Ramon

Every day working at STAR labs was a dream. Sometimes that meant nightmare, but more often than not they were  _ good  _ dreams. Things were starting to maybe get into groove again after Dr Morgan’s horrible accident, after Jesse left, after Rathaway was fired (Cisco was a little more glad than sorry about that last one).

Working on the Particle Accelerator was like working in the future -  just imagining the possibilities was exciting! Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t stop to look around at what he had right now, the best friends in the universe. Ronnie was the chillest guy he knew, and he and Caitlin were like the couple everyone wanted to be. Cisco quietly shoved aside the voice said that that was once true for the Wells’, and wondered what he could do to help the man he saw more as a father than his own. Instead he worked harder, long days and nights, putting everything he had into the last dream that Dr Morgan shared with her husband before everything happened. It didn’t seem to be working out too great, Dr Wells was slipping away more every day, and even knowing it was just grief talking...it felt most days like he wasn’t even there anymore. Like Tess’s death had shut him off from the rest of the world forever.

He tried keeping in touch with Jesse, worried for the not even 16-year-old girl off to change the world half a hemisphere away. She didn’t appreciate it whenever he brought up her father, and communication quickly became stilted. Cisco did his best to ignore his wonderful circle of friends that were more like  _ family  _ falling like sand through his fingers. Of course, Caitlin and Ronnie were still there, still trying to keep face much like he was. And they were engaged! It was truly one of the brightest points in his life, seeing his friends so happy.

So when he heard Caitlin talking in her lab long after he knew most everyone had left, he figured it was to Ronnie. But the voice that replied most certainly wasn’t Ronnie Raymond and not actually anyone Cisco recognized. Curiosity irresistible, Cisco poked his head in to see who was in the lab. He only saw Caitlin, working on something with the full use of her hands, but he spotted her phone on the table beside her.

“-and then he just gave me this look like he couldn’t believe I’d never seen it, even though I was wearing a sweatshirt with ‘HelloGotham’ plastered all over the front! His actual words were ‘How did you not have a childhood?’ I mean, I’m not gonna lie, I wish I had known before I bought it, but I still woulda gotten it because it’s frankly adorable- have you seen HelloGotham? Or is that not a thing where you are?”

“HelloGotham isn’t just airing in Gotham, you know. TV broadcasts a bit farther than that.”

Cisco almost flinched at the icy tone, Caitlin could be real frosty when she wasn’t paying attention, or was angry or annoyed. But the voice on the other side just laughed and it was almost unsettling if not for the joyous note of it. “I forget, just how much other places are or aren’t like Gotham. It’s why I talk to you, Snowflake!”

Now Cisco just stared at the scene before him, because wow who had the balls to call Caitlin  _ Snowflake _ ? Other than maybe Ronnie. Just who was she talking to? Deciding to insert himself into the conversation to find out, he knocked on the frame of the door to get Caitlin’s attention. She glanced over her shoulder at him, but didn’t otherwise stop her work. “You need to get out more, Jack.”

“So you keep saying. But really, I’ve got too much homework to do, I mentioned my lack of movie history and now I have a list of things to watch - have you ever watched Star Trek?”

Before he could stop himself, Cisco spoke up, “Oh, man, are you just  _ now  _ discovering the wonders of being a Trekkie?” There was a brief silence and he wondered if the man, apparently Jack, had known he was on speaker.

“Does that mean you’ve seen it? Hi, by the way, you don’t sound like Snowflake’s Firebrand unless something happened to your voice, which would be a shame because that was like basking in the sun, which I don’t do often. Then again, yours is like smooth  _ caramel _ , so please  _ do  _ start talking before I say something crazy.”

It took a while for Cisco to process half of that, and he felt a slight blush rise to his cheeks, “Uh, thanks? I’m...Cisco, I work at STAR with Caitlin and Ronnie. So you know them both?”

“In as much as I know anybody now-a-days. Nice to meet ya, Cisco! Hm. Isn’t that the name of a captain?"

“Yeah, on Deep Space Nine, but spelled differently. Pretty sure my parents weren’t thinking of him since I was in my teens when it aired.”

Caitlin finally sighed and grabbed her phone and held it out to Cisco, which was when he realized she hadn’t said a word pretty much since he walked in. “I do have actual  _ work  _ to be doing, so if you’re both going to continue this conversation, either take my phone or exchange numbers and call each other. Jack, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye Snowflake! Feel free to give me a ring, Captain Cisco.” With a click, the call ended and Cisco was awkwardly holding his best friend’s phone. Said friend was completely absorbed into whatever she was looking at in that scope of hers, so he gently put the phone down after copying the number into his own.

“So, how’d you know Caitlin and just how far into Trek are you?” Were the first words once Jack picked up on the first ring. A friendly laugh greeted him and Cisco couldn’t help his smile.

* * *

3 - Barry Allen

The first time Barry heard the name Jack was when Cisco and Caitlin were talking to each other, and Dr Wells ( _ the _ Doctor Wells! Honestly, Barry’s life was amazing lately!) didn’t seem overly pleased about involving them. But not all the equipment at STAR worked anymore, what with the explosion and loss of funds and the fact that the entire building was basically condemned to the outside world. And Caitlin really needed this bloodwork done, and she trusted this Jack guy to do it no questions asked.

That seemed...not entirely above board but, well he was fighting metahumans made by an explosion of dark matter while running faster than anything else alive so. Then he found out Jack was in Gotham and chalked it up to Gotham being  _ Gotham _ . Just about no one was above-board in Gotham. Barry was curious about the guy, who didn’t seem to mind that the professional reputation of anyone connected to STAR was pretty much shot and who even brought a small smile on Caitlin’s face when she mentioned him. They sent him the blood and got word back pretty fast, and everything was wrapped up.

But the  _ next  _ time he heard about Jack, was from someone Barry never thought even existed. He was patrolling the streets of Central, just a red blur with yellow lightning tailing behind when all of a sudden his momentum was stopped and it felt like he’d been snatched from the sky. He landed with a thud on the roof of one of the buildings he’d just about passed and blinked up to see a giant shadow looming over him.

White eyes glowed at him and the voice that spoke was deep and just a hair short of threatening, “You have information I need. You’re going to give it to me.”

“Hey, uh, hi yeah do you know who I  _ am _ ?” Barry asked as he got to his feet, figuring this was another meta (a rather scary looking one, honestly) wanting to take him down. He wondered if any of them knew his track record so far.

Barry did not expect the words that were next said. “Bartholomew Henry Allen, CSI to the CCPD, father in prison for the murder of his mother, accident a little under a year ago caused you to wake up with superspeed. You’ve been working with STAR Labs to take down the threats to Central that started because of them. So yes, I know exactly who you are.”

The dread that spread through his entire being put him on edge, lightning flying through his veins as he whispered out, “...Who  _ are  _ you?”

“I’m Batman. Now, as I’ve  _ said _ . You have information I need.”

Barry tried to muster a glare, but he was too busy being shocked that the mythical Batman actually  _ existed _ , and terrified for his secret. “Wh-what do you need to know?”

“There’s a chemist, works at Wayne Chem, who is in contact with STAR Labs frequently. He’s missing, and the trail leads here. What do you know of the Crime Families of Central?”

The following seven hours were possibly the weirdest of Barry’s life thus far. And he woke up after a nine month coma with lightning abs. Caitlin seemed shocked that her friend from Gotham was mixed up with a crime family, though really Barry wasn’t sure why other than Jack didn’t seem the type. It was Gotham.  _ Gotham _ . Which was home to  _ actual  _ Batman.

It seemed the entire thing was the first time any of them had actually met face to face, Jack admitted that he hated going out of Gotham. In the same breath that he turned to Batman and gave him a look that Barry was honest to god blushing over. He looked over to Cisco and Caitlin, but they were also still a bit too in shock to have just worked with  _ Batman  _ to rescue their friend to have noticed the look Jack was giving the Dark Knight.

“Knew you’d come to my rescue, though I’m surprised it took so long even after you were working with the fastest man alive.” Jack flashed a smile and then winked.  _ Winked _ . At  _ Batman _ . Who didn’t look like this was new and just how did Jack know Batman??

“Anywho, it was great to finally see your gorgeous faces, Snowflake, Captain Cisco! Can’t say it’ll happen again as I don’t ever want to be ‘napped by the Santini’s again, but how about we get a photo to mark the occasion? Bats?”

Jack held out a hand to him and then Batman pulled out the smallest camera Barry had ever seen out of- must be from his utility belt. Just how many things could it hold? He’d already seen at least six smoke grenades, taser disks, batarangs, batgraples and a flashlight come out of that thing. Barry was starting to think that Jack was Batman’s Cisco and Caitlin rolled into one person.

“Thanks dolls! I’m gonna treasure this one, let me know if you ever drop by Gotham, I’ll be sure to pull out all the stops.” Jack then turned to Barry and those green eyes were still startling, he idly wondered if Jack could’ve been exposed to any of the dark matter in the explosion. He’d said he hated leaving Gotham, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in Central almost a year ago...he’d have to ask Caitlin. “It was such a pleasure to meet you, Flash. Al- _ though _ , if you and Batsy here are friends now…”

“Don’t even think about it, Hood.”

Barry glanced between them, still trying to figure out if he’d actually just heard someone call Batman ‘Batsy’.

“Oh, go  _ ooon _ ,” Jack whined. “A little color won’t kill ya!”

Even though they couldn’t see it, Barry had the impression that Batman was raising a brow at them. “Black blends into the shadows.  _ Flash  _ can get away with bright red because all you’ll see anyway is a blur. I do not have the luxury.”

Jack pouted but waved it off with a sigh, “I’ll wear you down eventually. Just you see, I’ll turn that bat symbol of yours red yet.”

With that, their visitors from Gotham left, and Barry wondered how any day could possibly top this one for strangeness. Of course, the next week he dealt with his childhood bully who could now turn into steel.

* * *

4 - The Actual Dr Harry Wells

The last moment Harry remembered was watching his wife get murdered. Every single second, breath,  _ thought _ , beyond that point has been no more than a dream because the only logical conclusion was that he too died that night. So when he opens his eyes and gasps for air he didn’t realize he had been denied, when he falls face first to the hard floor completely covered in alien goop and weak as a newborn kitten, Harry feels as if he’s waking from a very long and horrible dream.

Only it wasn’t a dream, it was real and it was  _ three years earlier _ . His wife, his partner, his other half, Tess, was dead and had been for years. And the bastards who killed her had taken him and  _ impersonated  _ him during all that time. Using his life, his connections, his brilliance to do God-knows-what. 

Not a single soul had known. 

Had thought that anything was wrong, well  _ more  _ wrong than it already was. Harry laughed mirthlessly at the genius of them. Of course they took him and not Tess, not brilliant out of his league Tess who was the real power of the two. She’d  _ never  _ have done what they wanted, not covertly like they’d planned. But Harry? Harry was already messed up. Too easy to anger, too prone to not thinking about public perception and just focusing on the science. He’d long come to terms that his morals were gray at best, that’s what his family was for. Putting him in place when he was about to go too far.

He’d shatter without Tess.

He  _ was  _ shattered.

While he was deep into his own head, thinking too much and trying not to think at all because Tess was  _ dead  _ and his daughter- his beloved Jesse  _ hated  _ him, a hand entered his vision. It was clad in red leather and Harry looked up to see one of his saviors, if they could be called that.

The man was wearing a black suit, outdated, with a long red cape and some form of helmet covering the entirety of his head. “Looks like you’re thinkin’ too much there. I recognize the look, Batsy gets it sometimes. Best to do when he’s got that look is take ‘em out. You look like you need coffee, Dr Wells. So, up-n-att’em.”

Harry about glared at him but couldn’t muster up the feeling. “Don’t drink coffee. Gives me a headache.”

“Me too! Hot chocolate, then.” The voice sounded excited and Harry was sure if he could see the man’s face it’d be split with a grin. It looked like there was nothing for it, and Harry really didn’t...didn’t want to face his staff. The people he thought of as family, who felt betrayed and couldn’t look at him. Didn’t want the looks the others could give him, trying to figure out when the switch happened, just how good a fake that damn Martian was. Because surely they wouldn’t have impersonated him if they couldn’t do it perfectly.

“You know, I’m not sure I agree.” Harry was jolted out of his thoughts when the other man, what was it he called himself again?, spoke. The confusion must have been all over his face because the man continued, “Impersonating you. I don’t think they did it perfectly.”

“How-” Harry stopped himself in embarrassment. Had he said all that out loud without realizing? He hadn’t done that since Jess had been born. Tried not to get lost in his thoughts like that. “What do you mean?”

“Well, way I figure it, they planned it perfectly. Take your place in a moment that was so traumatic and horrible that just ‘bout everyone  _ expected  _ differences. And those that would be able to tell differences from uncharacteristic behavior...well just push ‘em away. Kid goes off to boarding school on the other side of the world, tiff so rough you don’t speak. Well she’s not a threat anymore, who’s next? Employees right? But you worked with your family, everyone’s on eggshells ‘round the boss, so just put up a professional border, maybe fire some that are too close but not  _ too  _ many to cause suspicions. Throw yourself into work, and get everything done even faster. Near flawless, really.”

Harry stopped and stared. It made a horrible amount of sense, he could honestly see himself doing it. Were it not for Jesse’s smile and Hartley’s moments of vulnerability, for Cisco’s charm and Caitlin’s wit and Ronnie’s earnestness Harry could see himself withdrawing from the world entirely in the wake of...

It hurt to remember that two out of those five hate him, two won’t look at him, and the fifth is dead.

A clap to the shoulder jolted him again and he wondered how many times he’d lose himself. “But you’re out now, and you’ve got the chance to fix all-o-that! Kudos!”

“ _ Fix _ it?” Harry growled incredulously, the optimism of this man was unbelievable. “How the hell am I going to  _ fix it _ ? From what I’ve learned so far, my reputation, my  _ staff’s  _ reputation are in tatters, the company my family built, that  _ Tess  _ built, is rubble and so far in debt that I’ll be lucky if Jesse is my age by the time I get it above water, if she’ll ever speak to me again because  _ oh-  _ apparently she hates my guts for not only firing Hartley but also kicking him back out to the streets again, something I  _ swore  _ would never happen to that boy when I found him, and dropped off the face of the Earth!”

He would not admit that his voice cracked on her name, that he was near shouting at the top of his lungs as the man in the outdated suit and red helmet just stood there with him in the otherwise empty hallway, empty mausoleum, of STAR Labs. But whether he admitted it or not, the tears were spilling down his face and he had to prop himself against the curving wall just to keep standing.

“And I can’t...I can’t get her face, her pain, out of my mind.”

“You know, I wondered just what Snowflake and Captain Cisco liked so much about working here.” The abrupt shift caused Harry to look up bewildered. “Known ‘em for a while now, and they stood fast to STAR even after their reps died with it during the explosion. I figured it was that they didn’t know what to do with themselves, which I can relate to, but I think it’s because of you.”

The man put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and softened his voice, “You seem like you really  _ care _ . Why else would all of those great people flock to you? Birds of a feather, and all that. You remind me a lot of the greatest person I know, difficulty with emotions and all. So don’t give up. You get  _ nothing  _ if you don’t take a step forward. Yeah, you’re pretty low, maybe lost a bit, so take a breath. And look for that outstretched hand. And let yourself take it.”

For a very long time Harry stared at his own reflection in that red helmet in silence before he let his curiosity break it, “You’re speaking from experience?” 

“Yeah. Pretty different from yours, but. Similar enough.” It was the most solemn the voice had sounded this entire time. Harry almost regretted asking. Instead they continued to the lounge and the man made him hot chocolate. Just when he was starting to wonder if he was going to have to drink the thing while the other man just sat there holding his cup, the man reached up and with a soft click took off his helmet.

Harry stared and felt a flicker of remorse for that, but not enough to stop himself. He didn’t comment on the bleached white skin, the scars maring the man’s cheeks or the unnatural green hair. They shared a mug of hot chocolate in quiet that wasn’t peaceful but was at least relaxing in the feeling of being understood.

* * *

5 - Wally West

It still felt strange meeting with the half of his family that he didn’t know he’d had. Well, his dad didn’t know he’d had a little sister either, so at least he wasn’t alone in his boat of confusion. Iris was a pretty cool aunt, and in the four years since he’d met her he couldn’t imagine life without her. His dad had discovered the Other Wests, as Wally secretly called them, when Wally was eleven. He still remembered that long weekend that his dad was in Central and the look he’d had when he’d come back home to tell him and his mom that they had a bit of a larger family.

Taking trips to Central became the regular, though Wally’s first impression of his aunt Iris was that she was a sad woman. That might’ve had something to do with her best friend being in a coma. It took until Wally was 14 to find out that said best friend, Barry Allen, was the Flash. He readily admits that he was a bit of an idiot at 14, and attempted to recreate the event that caused Barry to get his powers. By some miracle he’d survived and managed to convince Barry to train him as Kid Flash!

His parents didn’t know, in fact the only ones who did know were Barry’s team of people, and his aunt Iris. She really was the best aunt ever. His grandpa Joe took...some getting used to. But on the whole, Wally loved his life. Being Kid Flash was the best thing that happened to him, and he loved every microsecond of it. Of course, the times where his basically-uncle Barry  _ flirted  _ with Captain Cold were times he could do without. 

Robin was lucky that his mentors/family were too focused on each other to flirt with the bad guys. At least that’s what Robin said. Wally wasn’t too sure, he’d seen some broadcasts of Red Hood chatting up their rogues in the middle of a fight. Which is why he shouldn’t have been surprised to discover that basically all of Team Flash knew Red Hood.

“Oh Hood? Yeah he’s a bit of an odd guy, even for Gotham.” Barry commented when Wally told them that Red Hood was assigned as their ‘Den Mother’ for the next two weeks at the mountain.

“But if you actually listen to him he’s crazy smart,” Cisco said, “Seriously. Like maybe 60% crazy, but still really smart. He’s helped us out more than once when we needed extra brain power.”

“I thought he wasn’t technically a Leaguer?”

Barry shrugged, “He’s not? I mean, he was there for the forming of the League but…”

“He voted not to join.” Wells stated even while looking he wasn’t taking part in the conversation at all. He had a coffee mug in his hands filled with what Wally knew was not coffee and was doing something on a tablet. “Said he wasn’t much of a crowd person.”

Cisco huffed a laugh, “ _ That’s _ the truth. He’s not great with one-to-one interaction, prefers long distance.”

“Well, Batman doesn’t like leaving Gotham either. He’s only at meetings when it’s  _ absolutely  _ necessary. I really think it’s a Gotham thing.” Barry said with a shrug.

“Huh. Well, he’s gonna be at Mount Justice for two whole weeks, and I think Rob said that he asked for it. I think it’s for Rob’s birthday.”

“Oh! Robin’s turning 14? Give him our well wishes, yeah?”

“Well yeah, oh! I got a card, trying to get everyone to sign it, do that before I head out will ya?” Just about everyone smiled and agreed but Wells waved a hand with a ‘pass’. Just as Wally was about to head out the door he gave a look to Barry, “Bet  _ Rob’s  _ birthday is gonna be ten times better than  _ mine  _ last month. Seriously, what were you thinking mentioning to  _ Captain Cold _ ?”

Cisco sniggered and didn’t even try to hide it as Barry spread his hands out, “You said you thought the supervillains weren’t original enough anymore and Len planned that heist for two months just so it’d be a challenge specifically for you!”

“I don’t want any gifts from Cold, thanks!”

“When are you going to let it  _ go _ ?” Barry called after him and Wally shouted back with a grin.

“Never!”

~

Mount Justice was unusually quiet when Wally got there, which was never a good sign. Ominous silences were the harbingers of supervillains. Or surprise parties. Or occasionally surprise tests. Surprise test-parties thrown by supervillains were something Wally had only had to deal with once in his life, and he still hadn’t forgiven Captain Cold for coming up with that one.

He didn’t think Rob’s villains were like that, but he wasn’t  _ completely  _ sure and so he tried to put his guard up as he looked for anybody around. Their base of operations  _ was  _ in plain sight, since the villains knew where it was. They were relying pretty heavily on reverse psychology here, and Wally wondered if that wasn’t completely the wisest idea. As quietly as he could, he crept towards the kitchen.

The unsurprising sight of M’Gann at the oven greeted him along with the surprise of Red Hood standing next to her. Perhaps most shocking of all was that Hood had half his costume off, clad only in his dress-shirt and waistcoat with his sleeves rolled up to reveal alarmingly pale, scarred arms. The man’s helmet was still on and so were his gloves, an incongruous pop of bright colour at the end of his arms, and absolutely ruined by the amount of flour covering the leather.

“I don’t understand why baking seems so difficult, it’s just edible chemistry! I’m  _ great  _ at mixing things together!”

“I don’t know Mister Hood, you seem to be following all the steps…” M’Gann then looked over and saw Wally in the doorway, “Wally! Perfect timing! You can be our taste-tester!”

The smile he put on would have been effortless a month ago, but took a bit more doing this time, “Sure ang-ah, M’Gann. What’re you making?”

With a clap of his hands Red Hood turned around and Wally wasn’t sure why he was absolutely certain the man was smiling. He just had a feeling. “Makin’ some sweets for Little Bird, and you lot as well, given I hear you were planning a quiet party for him too.”

...ok. That was...new. From what Wally’d heard, Gotham heroes...weren’t usually the cookie-baking sort. Batman  _ definitely  _ wasn’t, even if Rob swore he actually did have a sense of humor under there somewhere. Gotham senses of humor didn’t exactly match the rest of the world. “Uh, sure yeah I’d love to be taste-tester. What are you making? A cake?”

“Cupcakes! Everything’s better in miniature.”

“I’ve never tried this many different kinds at once before,” M’Gann put in, “We’ve got chocolate, lemon drizzle, rainbow marbled, red velvet - which is basically the same as the chocolate mix only with more food coloring - and that funny greenish one Mr Hood says is toxic waste.”

“Not  _ actual  _ toxic waste,” Hood explained when Wally shot him a startled look, “I just personally don’t like it because it  _ looks  _ like toxic waste. And I’d know.”

Wally...did  _ not  _ want to know. Or try the toxic-waste cake. You never could be too careful. Both the bakers presented him one of each cupcake in a neat little row, which Hood showcased with a flourish.  He was rather over-the-top, pretty much the opposite of Batman from what Wally had seen. How did they even get along? Then again, Rob was pretty dramatic himself. Maybe this was where he’d got it fro- Ok, Wally was going to cut that thought off there because that made it sound like Bats and Red Hood were Rob’s parents and parents could be a bit of a touchy subject with Rob.

“Well, honestly, I like all of them. But I think Rob’ll go for the red velvet the most.” Wally told them around a mouthful of the lemon drizzle. Dang though, these were good! “How many did you make again?”

M’Gann shrugged with a smile, “Two dozen of each, I figured you’d want at least 12 of each yourself.”

Slowly a smile spread across his face, “You are the best friend ever.” But before he could reach for the tray it was whisked out of his immediate reach. Wally blinked a moment because that had to have been fast. He looked up to see Hood holding it above his head.

“Ah ah! Dinner first!” The man paused and lowered the tray a bit, “Or at least wait until Little Bird is here himself. I’m supposed to be the responsible adult here, and those eat healthy food first right?”

“...right.” Wally glanced at M’Gann. “Uh...you...this isn’t another Captain Marvel situation, is it?”

The Martian looked at Red Hood curiously too, but without a face to gauge and the fact she’d promised to stop reading minds without permission both of them were in the dark as to what Hood looked like at the moment. The man, if he was one, huffed and set the tray of cupcakes down before crossing his arms at them.

“I am- not  _ entirely  _ sure how old I am, but I am most  _ certainly  _ older than Cap’n Crunch. I’m probably Batsy’s age, but it doesn’t really matter. I just like to have fun. Now, keep up that attitude and I’ll make sure your cupcakes don’t have buttercream frosting.” With that final threat, Hood turned back around and got to work frosting all the cupcakes.

Wally looked at M’Gann but she shrugged and he resigned himself to not having any clue about Hood. There was something unsettling about the guy, though. Maybe it was the way he moved - oddly twitchy, never still, always in motion - or maybe it was his voice, and the odd, manic edge to it. Whatever it was, it was creepy.

Then again, Batman was creepy sometimes too. It was a wonder how Rob never managed to be creepy.


End file.
